Today, the day's topic was keeping and storing records. We discussed the importance of maintaining records and safe storage of those records.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: No homework

Looking Ahead: Charity

Today, the day's topic was vacations. In keeping with budgets, we framed the discussion with the idea of affordability and maintaining your budget. We brainstormed idea for a staycation with the idea that many may not be able to afford a destination vacation. Families can still experience a great vacation with free and low cost local venues. Then, we broke down the different costs and choices included in a destination vacation.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: With a budget of $2500, the students are to create a budget for a 7 day vacation for 2. They need to research their transportation options, what the cost would be, and include the details of the option they choose. They need to research lodging choices, what are the costs, and include the details of their choice. They need to include food options/budgets. Exactly how will they budget out the food portion of their vacation costs. They need to research the attractions/venues they will visit and what the costs will include. In addition, they should make sure they include any souvenirs they may purchase.

Looking Ahead: Career Choices

Today, the day's topic was vacations. In keeping with budgets, we framed the discussion with the idea of affordability and maintaining your budget. We brainstormed idea for a staycation with the idea that many may not be able to afford a destination vacation. Families can still experience a great vacation with free and low cost local venues. Then, we broke down the different costs and choices included in a destination vacation.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: With a budget of $2500, the students are to create a budget for a 7 day vacation for 2. They need to research their transportation options, what the cost would be, and include the details of the option they choose. They need to research lodging choices, what are the costs, and include the details of their choice. They need to include food options/budgets. Exactly how will they budget out the food portion of their vacation costs. They need to research the attractions/venues they will visit and what the costs will include. In addition, they should make sure they include any souvenirs they may purchase.

Looking Ahead: Career Choices

Today, the day's topic was income taxes. This is such a complex topic and somewhat difficult for those who have not paid taxes nor filled out a tax return to grasp. So, in order to give the students a basic introduction, we watched this short video.  After that, we watched a much longer video detailing the changes to the tax code in regard to individual income tax in the tax bill that will impact returns in 2019. After discussing watching the video, we worked out the tax liability of a married couple with 2 children making $70,000 in gross income, taking the standard deduction with a 401k contribution of $3000 and using the applicable child tax credit and the personal deduction (in 2018) for children. We compared the tax liability in 2018 under the old tax law and the tax liability in 2019 under the new tax law. You can watch the video to see the bracket differences. You can also pull up the spreadsheet which will give you the differences in amount for the child tax credit, etc.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: Tax worksheet. Read Chapter 14. Final Project due on Monday.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 14

Today, the day's topic was inflation and consumer price index. Using a consumer price index website, we compared the value of $100, $500, $1000 at different times in history as well as today. In examining those values, we also discussed how events in history impacted inflation/deflation.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: No homework with topic. Read Chapter 13. Begin working on the Final Project.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 13

Today, the day's topic was insurance. Continuing with the estate planning theme, we discussed life insurance and why ones needs to have a life insurance policy. Insurance vocabulary was introduced and along with details of various types of insurance. We discussed and the students were assigned the Final Project for display at the Open House. Details for the project will be contained within an email.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: The students must complete the activity on insurance in researching and then comparing 2 chosen car insurance policies. Read Chapter 13. Begin working on the Final Project.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 13

Today, the day's topic was creating wills. We began with a few short Dave Ramsey videos on the topic of wills. After we listed discussed why one needs a will and what would be included within a will. We also discussed what could happen should one not have a will.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: The students must complete the activity on wills. Read Chapter 12.

Looking Ahead: Insurance

Today, we tackled the topic of roommates. We began with a slightly cheesy video that presented what one expects going into a rooming situation as opposed to a more realistic outcome. After we listed positives and negatives of sharing a residence. We then proceeded to common points of conflict with some specific scenarios in which we came up with conflict resolutions.

Homework and Looking Ahead:

Homework: The students must create a "contract" for use with a roommate. The more thorough the contract, the more points earned. Students should address the common points of conflict we discussed as well as anything they specifically wish to address. The contract must be typed. Read Chapter 12.

Looking Ahead: Insurance

Today, we discussed home maintenance as well as all of the utilities and other financial obligations that arise with home ownership.

Looking Ahead: No homework.

Today, we discussed making housing choices. We compared positives and negatives of home ownership and renting. We discussed the rental process, mortgage application, insurance, and reminded the students of the importance of the FICO score in both renting and purchasing.

Homework: Read Chapter 11.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 11, Maintaining a Home.

Today, we began our unit on housing. We watched a video that discussed the benefits and drawbacks of both home ownership and renting. We will continue to discuss those on Wednesday. The students each decided on a "dream" home that we looked up on Zillow. Zillow gives an estimate for mortgage, insurance, HOA dues, and taxes. This gives a snapshot of possible costs.

Homework: The students need to complete the activities on the worksheet given in class using the website on the worksheet.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 10, Housing.

Today, we discussed clothing, the budget for yearly clothing, things that could impact a clothing budget, and making wise choices.

Homework: The students were given a hypothetical $400 Back-to-School budget. They need to "shop" for their new items within budget. Using the internet or by going to a physical store, they need to determine the prices of items they need to replenish their school wardrobe. They need to list the items "purchased", where they "shopped", and the total cost including sales tax which we established as a flat 9% unless they were able to get a specific sales tax figure from the site they used. Read Chapter 10, Housing

Looking Ahead: Chapter 10, Housing.

Today, we discussed food choices, dining out, food budgeting, menu planning and grocery shopping. We brainstormed meal options for the students to use in the week menu plan.

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Homework: The students need to fill out their week menu plan, create a grocery list, and use that list to determine price and the total cost for the week's food. The students should use Walmart Grocery for the online shopping to determine cost.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 9, Clothing.

Today, we discussed all issued dealing with car ownership, such as buying, leasing, maintenance, and insurance. 

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Homework: The students need to research for the two car models they were given in class. They need to find the purchase price per model year, mileage and list the site the car was found on. Suggested sites: Edmunds.com and truecar.com . Read Chapter 8.

Looking Ahead: Transportation.

Today, we completed our unit on banking, credit, debt and identity theft. We concluded with two videos of young adults who graduated from college with student loan debts in excess of $70,000. We contrasted their approaches to that debt and how the one could have better managed her response and ultimately her situation. We talked about two different strategies for tackling debt: debt snowball and debt avalanche.

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Homework: Complete Lesson 15 Activity 2. Read Chapter Chapter 7.

Looking Ahead: Transportation.

Today, we compared and contrasted debit and credit cards indicating strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls. The students looked up the different laws that govern credit law and protection for the credit consumer.

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Homework: Write a minimum half page analysis about credit. A one page response would probably more accurately reflect the detail needed to fully express an analysis. What are the costs/benefits or positives/negatives of credit. How can one use credit as part of a smart financial life? How can credit negatively impact one's life. Demonstrate your understanding of credit in relation to the issue of personal finance.

Looking Ahead: The Danger of Debt. Transportation.

Today, we learned about identity fraud and protecting one's identity. We watched videos from the FTC and other sources to establish the problem and the path to follow to correct the problem should one be unfortunate to be a victim of identity theft. The videos and websites will be sent via email, so that the students can save for future use.

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Homework: Complete the letter of dispute in Fighting Fraudulent Charges.

Looking Ahead: Using credit wisely.

Today, we learned about credit history and credit scores and how it impacts one's ability to rent an apartment, get a loan, and the interest rate on a loan. We discussed different scenarios and how it would impact one's credit score.

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Homework: Complete the final 2 scenarios on the Activity sheet, Spot of the Credit Crisis.

Looking Ahead: Continuing to look at loans, debt, and related topics.

We began learning about borrowing today. We listed many types of loans that one can take out and debt that one can accrue. We specifically began discussing the funding of college or post-high school education. We compared the college costs at different KS and MO institutions, both private and public, for an accounting degree.

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Homework: Using the KS Board of Regents website or specific school websites, compare the degree costs for your chosen degree program. Type the answers to the questions on "My Life, My Decisions: Researching College Options."

Looking Ahead: Continuing to look at loans, debt, and related topics.

We continued working on learning about banks and banking today. We listened to two podcasts in class to learn more about types of accounts and types of financial institutions. You can find the link to those podcasts here. Following the podcasts we discussed some of the topics covered including FDIC coverage, fees that could be incurred in using non-bank services such as money orders and check cashing, as well as items such as cashier's checks.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Students need to research two banks to complete the items needed to finish Student Activity 10 and 12. Begin reading Chapter 6.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 6.

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The annual and monthly budget project was due today. We transitioned to learning about banking. Today, we went over how to write a check, what each detail on a check was, how to keep a checking register, and balancing it. We practice writing checks and balancing the register in class.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Quiz 1 and 2 to practice check writing, balancing, and banking basics.

Looking Ahead: More banking.

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Students had the choice today in how to use class time. They could use their time to work on their chapter test, or they could use time to research and calculate their annual and monthly budget project. See details from Monday in regard to the budget project. Once again, I will be sending more information via email about the budget project including the excel files that I would like the students to use as a template.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Working on the budget project. It is due Monday. Students will need to choose a career they are interested in. They will find out the earning potential year one from the Board of Regents site mentioned above. They will also estimate student loans (if applicable) that will be reflected in their budget. The students will complete both an annual and monthly budget from the research. This is hypothetical, so the students don't have to know for sure what they are going to be do post graduation. The project is to get them working on an adult budget. Chapter test is due Monday. Read Chapter 5.

Looking Ahead: Chapter 5.

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We continued working with budget and budget calculations today. We worked data from annual to monthly budgets as well as from monthly to annual budgets. We discussed how to calculate expenses that do not occur monthly. A site from the Kansas Board of Regents was introduced to the students. This site helps to compare and contrast schools and degrees for cost and earning potential. This is a great resource for parents to use with the students as they discuss the future. The students will be using this on their budget project. We also looked at the website, Trulia, as a resource to find out housing costs.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Begin working on the budget project. Students will need to choose a career they are interested in. They will find out the earning potential year one from the Board of Regents site mentioned above. They will also estimate student loans (if applicable) that will be reflected in their budget. The students will complete both an annual and monthly budget from the research. Download and save the attached documents below to use in creation of the annual and monthly budgets.

Looking Ahead: Budget due Monday the 24th. Chapter Test.

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Annual Budget Spreadsheet

Monthly Budget Shreadsheet

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Today, we clarified how to calculate the time for a time sheet. Moving on to budgets, we work a sample annual budget by using recommended percentages for categories and given annual income. This is just the beginning of work with budgets and will continue throughout the next week.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: If desired, redo missed test questions in a typed document, attach to original test and hand in Monday. Complete Activity, Wishful Wants or Unnecessary Needs by Monday. Complete Chapter 4 Quiz 1 as a homework assignment by Monday. Extra Credit opportunity- Complete p. 80-81 #2-22 for a potential 4 Exams extra credit points.

Looking Ahead: We will continue working on budgets.

Because of some misunderstanding of compounding interest and how to calculate it, we dove further into that topic with some examples. We also visited a compound interest calculator online to show the ease of using tools to calculate for you. In this, I demonstrated how compound interest can help build your retirement portfolio with early commitment to investing. We began work today on budgeting. This is a topic that we will park on for a few days to give the students lots of practice in sample budgets.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Complete the Activity, Budget Busters.

Looking Ahead: Budgeting!

Today in class, we continued working on investing with specific work on reading a stock table. We watched this video as an introduction. We continued with looking up Coca-Cola on both the Wall Street Journal website and Yahoo Finance. We picked five different companies in which we would look up stock table information for the assignment.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Complete the activity, Stock Up by Monday. Make sure you use Thursday's information, so that we all have the same closing information. Take Home Test for Chapter 3 is due Monday. Also, Read Chapter 4 in order to be prepared for class discussion next week.

Looking Ahead: Budgeting!

Today in class, we continued working on problems determining income and wage as well as discussing the assignment in which changes could be made to increase savings.

 

We began discussing investing. We watched two videos of teens already actively engaged in investing, but with much different approaches and risk factors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_M996Djcf8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_M996Djcf8 . After investing videos, we viewed a few clips of the risks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DBDONn9wQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8seX7XYjJw .

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After viewing the videos, we continued discussing different types of investments as well as their return and risk factors. We will continue with that discussion on Wednesday.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Complete the activity, What's My Interest? by Wednesday, Sept 5th.

Looking Ahead: Take home test will be assigned next Wednesday.

Today in class, we broke down the different methods one earns: wage, salary, commission and the different terminology associated with pay: gross, net, take home. We also discussed how that can be paid: weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly. We fleshed out payroll deductions by the government: FICA, Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, and Local Income Tax (in the case of MO employees). We also added in discussion about benefit related deductions such as health insurance, 401K, vision insurance, direct savings deposit, etc. We began work in class to determine how to figure hours work and gross pay.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Complete the activity, Paystub Puzzles by Wednesday, Aug 29th.

Looking Ahead: We will continue to discuss Income.

Today in class, we created a class "Bucket List" of things we'd like to do, to buy, or to accomplish. Once we had a list, we categorized those as short-term, medium-term, or long-term items. We then had a quick breakdown about the steps we would take to figure out how to achieve a goal: adopting a pet. Then we broke into groups to have the groups discuss the steps needed to accomplish one of the other "Bucket List" items.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework: Read Chapter 3.

Looking Ahead: Take home Ch. 3 test Sept 5th.

Today in class, we discussed Money Matters: Why It Pays to Be Financially Responsible. We discussed some financial literacy vocabulary and using that in discussing purchases that the students had made or were planning on in the future. We reflected on how making responsible financial decisions can lead to financial well-being over a lifetime.

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HOMEWORK AND LOOKING AHEAD:

Homework:

The students need to complete the activity on Lesson 1: Activity Sheet 2. The students need to complete a plan for one of the scenarios. They can use the information on Activity Sheet 1 that we worked on in class. They can even use one of those examples, if it fits the criteria. Be more specific and in depth than the exercise in class. 

Looking Ahead:

For Monday, students will need to Read Chapter 3. There will be an assignment with the lesson on Wednesday.